The state Department of Health has launched a “Treat Nicotine Addiction Campaign,” to urge health care providers to reframe smoking as an addiction to nicotine, rather than a bad habit, and to treat nicotine addiction with counseling and medication.
“New York’s smoking rate is at an historic low, but 2.1 million adults are still smoking,” said Commissioner of Health Dr. Howard Zucker. “Health care providers can play a critical role in helping New Yorkers overcome nicotine addiction by reinforcing a recommendation to quit smoking with medication and counseling.”
The campaign asks health care providers to combine the strength of their recommendations with the two best proven methods –medication and counseling–to help further reduce smoking rates in New York state.
According to the Health Department, research shows that half of all smokers who try to quit are motivated by their provider’s recommendation. Patients who are encouraged to quit and begin medication are two to three times more likely to remain smoke-free
Currently, there are seven U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved pharmacotherapies for tobacco addiction–five nicotine replacement therapies (gum, patch, lozenge, inhaler, and nasal spray) and two medications Wellbutrin (bupropion) and Chantix (varenicline).
The Treat Nicotine Addiction Campaign will run through June.